Cancer Research | Penn Today

John Glick standing with arms crossed in a white lab coat.

The cancer fighters: John Glick and a legacy of a half century in oncology

A major figure in the fight against cancer, John Glick reflects on his career after decades of working with the Perelman School of Medicine and as director of Penn’s National Cancer Institute for more than 20 years, treating thousands of patients during his tenure.

Screen capture of 11 participants in a Zoom call.

New program inspires underrepresented young women to cancer research

The Abramson Cancer Center’s Summer Health Experience, or SHE, program introduces young women to careers in cancer research. Statistics show that Black and Latinx women are severely underrepresented in the health sciences.

cancer patient in bed looking out window

Improving patient experiences in cancer clinical trials

Cancer clinical trials (CCTs) provide patients an opportunity to receive experimental drugs, tests, and/or procedures that can lead to remissions. For some, a CCT may seem like their only option. Yet little is known about the experiences of patient participants who withdraw from CCTs.

Penn-led consortium identifies more genetic markers for inherited testicular cancer

A new meta-analysis of nearly 200,000 men revealed 22 new genetic locations that could be susceptible to inherited testicular germ cell tumors—an increase of 40%.

microscopic rendering of a virus cell next to a t cell.

Clarifying T cell ‘exhaustion’

T cells, which are among the most powerful weapons in the immune systems of humans and other vertebrates, remain substantially programmed to stay exhausted even many weeks after exposure to a virus ended.

New cell therapy shows potential against solid tumors with KRAS mutations

The new technology for cellular immunotherapy shows promising anti-tumor activity in the lab against hard-to-treat cancers driven the KRAS mutation.

More Black patients are participating in clinical trials for cancer treatment at Penn thanks to this effort

Carmen Guerra and Armenta Washington of the Abramson Cancer Center spoke about their efforts to enroll more Black patients with cancer in clinical trials. “When we conduct research, we want to say that what we learn applies to all people,” said Guerra. “But that might not be the case if we are just studying one population.”

How mRNA vaccines help fight cancer tumors

Penn researchers are looking to mRNA vaccines for applications outside of infectious diseases, as they can not only prompt strong antibody responses to fight off invaders, like COVID-19, but also potent cytotoxic T cell responses.

Two people, one Black one white, sitting in a waiting room wearing masks.

Black and white women have same mutations linked to breast cancer risk

The prevalence of genetic mutations associated with breast cancer in Black and white women is the same, but the takeaway is not to change testing guidelines based on race alone, but focus on ensuring equal access to and uptake of testing to minimize disparities in care and outcomes.

Concentric circles with different colors inside representing cancer cell lineages

Pinpointing how cancer cells turn aggressive

Penn scientists have developed a new method for tracing the lineage and gene expression patterns of metastatic cancer at the single-cell level.

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